"Haah…" Simon glanced up at the ceiling with a look of deep sympathy. "You know, thinking back on it… I just want to cry."
"Go on, share it so I can enjoy it."
"Get lost — my match is starting."
Simon shoved Jace aside and headed toward the battlefield.
In that short span of time, Mareep had already been fought to tears.
Now Galarian Farfetch'd was standing beside the sobbing Mareep, clutching its leek in utter confusion. It raised the leek awkwardly, not knowing what to do.
"Bwe?"
Farfetch'd turned its head and looked at Auron with bewilderment, clearly not understanding the situation.
Auron chuckled, fished a fruit-flavored biscuit from his bag, and handed it to Farfetch'd.
"Here — give her this. It'll stop her crying."
Farfetch'd accepted the biscuit with some skepticism.
"Bwe?"
"Trust me. It works."
Hearing Auron's confident reassurance, Farfetch'd finally relented and held the biscuit out to Mareep with the utmost reluctance.
"Bwe?"
"Mii…" (accepting the biscuit)
"Bwe…" (reluctantly taking a bite)
"Mii~"
"Hu~ Bwe."
Watching Mareep's tears dry up, Galarian Farfetch'd finally exhaled with relief. Then it returned to Auron's side with a perfectly blank expression.
"Nice work!"
Auron bent down, reaching to pat Farfetch'd on the head.
But Farfetch'd didn't even glance over — it just sidestepped Auron's big hand with practiced ease.
"Hey, that's a bit much, don't you think?" Auron complained internally. The absolute audacity of this duck, refusing to let me touch its head. Unforgivable.
"Bwe!"
Farfetch'd completely ignored Auron. Instead, it raised its leek and pointed it at a spot beside Simon's head.
"Bwe!"
(*I sense your hostility!*)
With another sharp call from Farfetch'd, a Pokémon materialized reluctantly into view beside Simon's head.
It was Dhelmise.
"Mmh~?"
Dhelmise tilted its head, clearly confused about how Farfetch'd had managed to perceive it.
"Bwe!"
Simon laughed, gave Dhelmise a pat, and the Ghost/Grass-type faded back into invisibility at Simon's side.
"There, Farfetch'd — your opponent is this one."
Simon tossed out a Poké Ball. Golett appeared on the battlefield in a flash of red light.
"Want to wait for Farfetch'd to recover a bit first?"
"Farfetch'd, what do you say?"
Auron crouched down and extended his hand toward Farfetch'd, ready to pat its head as he asked.
Farfetch'd tilted its head to dodge Auron's hand, then trotted onto the battlefield. It flicked its leek dismissively.
"Bwe!"
Auron gritted his teeth internally. Still couldn't touch the head.
But he kept his smile. "Sounds like that's a no — let's just go."
"Alright."
Simon nodded, then stepped onto the battlefield alongside Golett.
"Phew!"
The iron rod came down.
The match began!
"Golett, Feint Attack!"
"Farfetch'd, Night Slash!"
From the very start of the battle, Farfetch'd surged forward with Quick Attack, closing the distance to Golett in a flash.
The moment it got close, the leek unsheathed — one clean strike straight into the spiral pattern on Golett's belly.
"..."
For a moment, absolute silence fell over the arena.
Jace and Tim both stood there with their mouths hanging open, staring in shock at Golett slowly toppling over on the field.
"No way…" Jace murmured. They were both newborn Pokémon. How did Farfetch'd just one-shot Golett?
"Haah…" Simon pressed his lips together and sighed, recalling Golett to its Poké Ball with a rueful shake of his head.
"A critical hit, huh."
Simon shook his head again, still processing it. Farfetch'd's Scrappy ability meant it could hit Ghost-types. And Golett's No Guard ability meant that double-damage Night Slash was absolutely unavoidable.
Worst of all — Farfetch'd had landed a direct vital point strike on top of it all. Double damage on top of double damage. Golett had no complaints coming.
"Impressive!"
Simon snapped back to the situation, retrieved Golett's Poké Ball, and gave Farfetch'd a genuine thumbs-up.
"Bwe!"
The corner of Farfetch'd's beak twitched upward slightly — just barely — before flattening back to its usual expression.
Only then did Tim react, lifting the iron rod.
"Golett is unable to battle — Farfetch'd wins."
After the verdict, Tim tossed the iron rod aside and ran over to Galarian Farfetch'd, examining it intently.
"Insane. One-shot to three — is this really a newborn Pokémon?"
The last part Tim directed at Auron.
Auron could only manage a wry smile, then pulled out his phone and called up his trainer profile.
"Here — take a look. Registered today. Hatch time, one day."
Tim and Jace leaned in together to read the screen, then looked at each other.
"Fine. I believe you."
Simon passed Golett's Poké Ball to Genghis, who accepted it with a delighted grin before scuttling off toward the treatment room with his new patient.
"Never thought Farfetch'd would be this strong, even just born."
Auron twitched slightly. Yes, strong. Strong enough that I can't even touch its head. That's the kind of strong we're dealing with here.
"Oh, right — where did Tang Yunqin and Yin Hanling run off to? Why haven't they shown up?" Auron pocketed his phone and steered the topic.
"They went shopping. Said they're skipping this."
"Ah."
Auron nodded, then turned to the group. "Want to run some training with your Pokémon? I'm booked for the whole day."
"Sure."
Everyone — including Lucas, who had just rejoined them — nodded in unison.
"Come on, Farfetch'd!"
Auron flashed Farfetch'd a grin, then casually grabbed a bamboo sword from a basket near the training room. He twirled it in his hand with a practiced flourish, the blade humming through the air. A slight smirk crossed his face.
"Go ahead — attack me."
"Bwe?"
Farfetch'd tilted its head, staring at Auron with visible confusion.
"Don't underestimate me, now."
Auron smiled — and then lunged first, swinging the bamboo sword down at Farfetch'd.
*Everyone's got a dream of wielding a sword and walking the world, right?*
And Auron had genuinely pursued that dream — once. He'd studied the Wudang sword form, the Taiji sword, then his interest drifted to the Taiji spear, and finally to the Halberd. All of it had been properly, systematically taught. Though limited by his physical constitution at the time, he'd learned a little of everything — none of it truly mastered, the whole package amounting to little more than what you'd call "flashy but hollow."
But this life was different. With Aura flowing through him, his focus and reaction speed had surged far beyond what he'd been capable of before. It had elevated him past that "flashy but hollow" stage and into something closer to true competence.
Of course, even competence wasn't enough to deal with Farfetch'd — not unless that bird was actually trying yet.
Still, he had one more edge up his sleeve: Aura itself.
*Thwack!*
After the initial exchange, Auron found his opening. He deflected the leek with a well-timed twist of his bamboo sword, sending it spinning out of Farfetch'd's grip. Then he rested the bamboo blade on his shoulder and shook his head at the duck with a look of disappointment.
"If you can't even hold onto the sword in your hand, how are you going to face a real enemy?"
(The End of This Chapter)